Diyar Shivayi is a dancer from Shiraz, Iran. Her work draws on Iranian legends and cultural memory, using movement to evoke cycles of destruction and rebirth. Referencing the myth of the Phoenix, her practice reflects on Iran’s history of endurance and regeneration through fire and ashes. Her work expresses a wish for freedom and is rooted in a land “accustomed to poetry, saturated with patterns and colors”, connecting bodily expression to collective resilience and cultural identity.